Heemi Taumaunu: Chief District Court Judge on the introduction of timeframe goals in the justice sector

The Chief District Court Judge says there's a definite commitment across the justice sector to reducing court delays.  

He wants to introduce timeframe goals based on the seriousness of the crime.  

For the least serious category which can only result in fines or community sentences the aim is six months.  

Chief District Court Judge Heemi Taumaunu told Mike Hosking that they'll be looking to make best use of resources they currently have.  

He says there's been a lot of work happening to maximise that. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Morning, seven past seven. So we have the introduction of
a time frame goal to try and speed up district
court cases. Eighty one percent of district court cases are
determined within the timeframes now, but the aim is to
reach ninety percent. The Chief District Court Judge Hemi Talman,
who is with us, very good morning to.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
You, Kyoto, make good.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
Going to go from eighty one to ninety? How dramatically
or drastically do things need to change?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
I think it's going to require coordinated action across the
justice sector to achieve this, and that's really part of
the idea behind setting a benchmark or a standard of
ninety percent to focus the coordinated efforts in that direction.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
The eighty one to ninety gap is that all the
same stuff going wrong. In other words, the paperwork isn't there,
or the file is lost, or there aren't enough people
or something.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I think that's going to be really the challenge that
we have in front of us, Mike, for all of
the verious parts of the justice sector to look at
their own organizations to try and identify the areas where
there are room for improvement and to essentially lift performance
both individually and collectively to assist the court to get

(01:16):
to this benchmark of ninety percent.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
Is there a will?

Speaker 2 (01:22):
I think there's a definite commitment across the whole sector.
And the reason I say that is because when you
put aside all of the numbers that are involved, you're
actually talking about people waiting for their cases to be
heard and experiencing the delay brings with it that idea
for many people at least putting lives on hold, and

(01:45):
so there is great commitment across the sector to try
and reduce those delays.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Is it resource required?

Speaker 2 (01:53):
What we will be doing is looking to make the
best use of the resources that we do have at
the moment. I think that there's been a lot of
work that has been happening at the moment to try
and maximize the use of what we have at the moment.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
If you can do it anywhere, is the district court
the place to do it as opposed to High and
appeal et cetera or not.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
I think the district court is most definitely the place
where we need to do this. It's also important to
bear in mind that, because of the separation of powers
and judicial independence, this standard can really only be set
by the head of the court. The Chief District Court
judge really is the only one who has the constitutional
power to do this, and so it's a step that's

(02:38):
been taken and there is a great deal of support
behind it across the sector to do so.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
Okay, are you cognizant of the idea? First? In the
category one? This is for people who aren't going to jail,
you want to get them done within six months? Are
those the ones you could shuffle through really quickly to
bolster the numbers on the more problematic cases and would
that worry people?

Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well? Category one is finely, Mike. That's the category where
there's the six month time frame. It's pretty important that
the idea of timely justice goes together. So it's important
to reduce delay. It's also very important to ensure that
fair trial rights are still observed and protected and that

(03:21):
justice is still administered. So there's a balance involved in
all of this.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Got my diary in front of me, tell me when
I invite you back on to tell me it's working.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Well, that's something we can speak about offline, Mike, because
we have definitely said an expectation across the sector that
we're looking towards. June twenty twenty seven. This is not
going to be easy. There are going to be challenges
ahead of us and we will do our best to
throw everything at it that we've got at the moment
to try and reduce these delays.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
I like your positivity, go well, appreciate it very much
and we'll stay in touch. Judge Hemi Tamanu, who is
the Chief District's Court Judge eleven minutes past seven. For
more from The Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News
Talk Set B from six am weekdays, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.